740.00111 A.R.N.C./166
The Under Secretary of State (Welles) to the American Member of the Inter-American Neutrality Committee (Fenwick)
My Dear Professor Fenwick: I have read with much interest your letter of January 22 reporting the final action of the Committee on the preliminary text of the convention on the Security Zone, and giving your views as to the handling of the convention after its receipt from the Pan American Union.
It is felt in the Department that the Committee has served and will continue to serve very useful and desirable purposes, and that the Committee should be continued in existence for at least the duration of the hostilities. I share your view that one of the useful purposes of the Committee has been increasingly to appear as a symbol of the solidarity and unity of all American peoples in behalf of their ideals and common interests and hopes.
I heartily endorse your plan to submit the articles of your preliminary draft of a code of neutrality to the Committee for discussion seriatim. I do not doubt that it will be of great value from the standpoint of long range considerations.
[Page 5]Your letters describing the work of the Committee and your plans and your problems are always appreciated. The Department fully realizes the difficulties of your position in the rapidly changing situation today, and is pleased with your skillful and constructive handling of affairs.
With cordial personal regards, I am
Sincerely yours,